158 THENORTHPOLE 



tremely difficult to dry out stockings because of the 

 cold and the necessity of economizing fuel. The gen- 

 eral procedure is to discard footgear when it is nearly 

 saturated with moisture. As long as the footgear is dry 

 there is little danger of frosting the feet, if ordinary 

 precautions are taken. With wet footgear one is in 

 constant danger of freezing the feet. The oil-stove with 

 the three-inch burner is barely sufficient to dry the 

 gloves, of which two pairs are worn, an outer pair of 

 bearskin, and an inner pair of deerskin." Another jour- 

 nal entry deals with a different kind of peril: 



"Toxingwa and Weesockasee were overcome by 

 the lack of oxygen and the fumes of alcohol while 

 MacMillan was preparing tea. Weesockasee fell back 

 as though asleep. Toxingwa was twisting around, as 

 though to get his arm free from one sleeve of his jacket. 

 He too, finally fell back. MacMillan surmised the 

 cause and kicked the door to one side. In about 

 fifteen or twenty minutes they came around all right. 

 The Commander on another of his expeditions nearly 

 had a similar experience when he saw his Eskimos 

 acting strangely, and quickly kicked out the side of 

 the igloo." 



Still another peril that is omnipresent in sledge 

 journeys over a polar sea is that of falling through 

 thin ice and getting thoroughly wet. Perhaps it is 

 not necessary to enlarge upon the gravity of this dan- 

 ger, since it was precisely such an accident that cost 

 Professor Marvin his life. Even if the victim of 

 such an accident should be able to drag himself out 

 of the water, he would in all probability speedily 

 freeze to death. Death by freezing comes speedily 



